NBL1 West Recap | Sunday Men's Round 15

Cairns Taipans NBL superstar Scott Machado turned on a remarkable show to lead the Mandurah Magic to a win over the Goldfields Giants to close Round 15 in the NBL1 West Men's Division on Sunday.

Machado came ready to put on a full display of his vast array of talents at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre on Sunday. 

He started on fire and had 25 points with 5/7 shooting from three-point land in the first half alone, and finished with 37 points and eight three-pointers as his Mandurah Magic team beat the Goldfields Giants 95-73 to stay in the hunt for a top four position.

Round 15 in the NBL1 West Men's Division began way back on Thursday night with the Lakeside Lightning defeating the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 105-90 at Ray Owen Sports Centre.

There were then four big matches on Friday night with the Perry Lakes Hawks defeating the Willetton Tigers 105-88, the Lakeside Lightning backing up to beat the Joondalup Wolves 106-79, the Rockingham Flames downing the South West Slammers 103-67 and the Cockburn Cougars prevailing 104-102 in an overtime classic over the Warwick Senators.

Then there were six matches on Saturday night with 12 of the 14 teams in the league involved starting with the Geraldton Buccaneers winning on the buzzer thanks to Mathiang Muo 68-67 over the Perth Redbacks in Geraldton.

The Joondalup Wolves returned to the winner's list as well beating the Perry Lakes Hawks 79-70 while the Warwick Senators thumped the East Perth Eagles 112-70, the Cockburn Cougars defeated the Willetton Tigers 96-76 and the South West Slammers beat the Goldfields Giants 86-81.

The Mandurah Magic then also defeated the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 85-75 to close proceedings on Saturday night at Ray Owen Sports Centre.

That all led into Sunday afternoon at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Center, and with Scott Machado putting on quite the show, the Mandurah Magic proved too good for the Goldfields Giants winning 95-73.

NBL1 WEST – 2021 MEN'S SEASON
ROUND 15 – SUNDAY 

MANDURAH MAGIC 95 defeated GOLDFIELDS GIANTS 73

The Mandurah Magic and Goldfields Giants were both coming off Saturday night games ahead of their clash on Sunday afternoon at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre.

The Magic kept their winning form going the previous night beating the Kalamunda Eastern Suns on the road by 10 points in a hard fought affair that saw them having won five straight matches to be 5-1 since the arrival from Cairns of superstar point guard Scott Machado.

The Giants have had plenty to deal with throughout this season with the struggle to sign players and get them to Kalgoorlie, to bring in imports and then even to get the players they have signed on the court on a regular basis.

That has seen them struggle to a 4-12 record coming into Sunday's clash with Mandurah including a narrow five-point loss on Saturday night to the South West Slammers at Eaton Recreation Centre.

Machado and the Magic weren’t feeling merciless on Sunday afternoon on their home court though.

After Julian Pesava helped the Giants to the opening five points of the game, Machado hit the next four and Mandurah scored the next 11 to lead 11-5.

That turned into a 24-12 lead by quarter-time for Mandurah and then the Magic and Machado delivered some simply insatiable and unstoppable basketball.

The Giants were struggling to handle the pressure and to keep handle on the ball themselves, but with the ball in his hands, Machado was just unstoppable and was feeling it in a way few players have the ability to do.

Mandurah put up 37 points in the second quarter to head into half-time leading 61-31 with Machado having delivered a simply stunning opening half.

He had 25 points on his own in the first half while knocking down 5/8 from three-point territory while as a team the Giants scored just the 31 points and shot 4/19 from the arc.

The game was all over as a contest by half-time, but to the credit of Giants coach Wayne Creek and his team they fought the game out well and actually won the second half with 42 points to 34.

The Magic went on to score the 95-73 win to improve to an 11-6 record on the season in their hunt for that top four spot while the Giants are 4-13 having lost five straight.

Scott Machado was the star of the show for the Magic finishing the afternoon with 37 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals while shooting 12/17 from the field, 8/12 from beyond the arc and 5/6 from the foul line.

Fred Williams added 13 points, three rebounds and two assists for Mandurah, Riley Parker 12 points and Jerami Grace impressed once more as he chases a chance in the NBL with 17 points, six rebounds and three assists.

Julian Pesava had a strong showing for the Giants finishing up with 25 points and nine rebounds including hitting 5/9 from three-point range with Tom Atkinson producing 17 points, 10 rebounds and three assists.

Hamish Cummings also had 10 points, four assists and three rebounds, Deng Kuany eight points and four boards, and Dion Collins six points.